5 Steps for analyzing your WLAN

Assessing Your Wireless Network Security

Wireless network penetration testing—using tools and processes to scan the network environment for vulnerabilities—helps refine an enterprise’s security policy, identify vulnerabilities, and ensure that the security implementation actually provides the protection that the enterprise requires and expects. Regularly performing penetration tests helps enterprises uncover WLAN network security weaknesses that can lead to data or equipment being compromised or
destroyed by exploits (attacks on a network, usually by “exploiting” a vulnerability of the system),Trojans (viruses), denial of service attacks, and other intrusions.

Here is a great article I was reading on Cisco blogs and found it useful to post. Enjoy!

“5 Steps for Assessing Your Wireless Network Security“

Sampa Choudhuri – Network security is a never-ending task; it requires ongoing vigilance. Securing your wireless network can be particularly tricky because unauthorized users can quietly sneak onto your network, unseen and possibly undetected. To keep your WLAN secure, it’s important to stay on top of new wireless vulnerabilities. By regularly performing a vulnerability assessment on your wireless network, you can identify and close any security holes before a hacker can slip through them.

With a WLAN vulnerability assessment, you’re figuring out what your wireless network looks like to the outside world on the Internet. Is there an easy way in to your network? Can unauthorized devices attach themselves to your network? A WLAN vulnerability assessment can answer these questions—and more.

Teaser:

1. Discover wireless devices on your network. You need to know everything about each wireless device that accesses your network, including wireless routers and wireless access points(WAPs) as well as laptops and other mobile devices. The scanner will look for active traffic in both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands of your 802.11n wireless network. Then, document all the data you collect from the scanner about the wireless devices on your network, including each device’s location and owner.

2. Hunt down rogue devices. Rogue devices are wireless devices, such as an access point, that should not be on your network. They should be considered dangerous to your network security and dealt with right away. Take your list of devices from the previous step and compare it to your known inventory of devices. Any equipment you don’t recognize should be blocked from network access immediately. Use the vulnerability scanner to also check for activity on any wireless bands or channels you don’t usually use.

Read the 5 Steps here:

http://blogs.cisco.com/smallbusiness/5-steps-for-assessing-your-wireless-network-security/

Related articles

• Biggest Wireless Threat….. The Admins? (netsecurityit.wordpress.com)

February 16, 2012 | Categories: 802.11, data recovery, Encryption, Enterprise, Exploit, Mobile Device Management, network management security, Network Security, network security solution, network security tool, project management, remote attackers, Security, Wi-Fi, Wireless Security, Wireless VPN | Tags: network penetration, Network security, penetration tests, Security, security implementation, Vulnerability, Vulnerability (computing), Vulnerability assessment, Wi-Fi, Wireless, Wireless access point, wireless access points, Wireless LAN, Wireless network, wireless network security, wireless routers | 3 Comments